Organic Change, Organic Life, Eco-Friendly Water

The controversial gas-drilling practice is tainting water. Your food might be next. by  Barry Estabrook     May 14, 2011 here's a stunning moment in the Academy Award-nominated documentary  Gasland , where a man touches a match to his running faucet—to have it explode in a ball of fire. This is what hydraulic fracturing, a process of drilling for natural gas known as "fracking," is doing to many drinking water supplies across the country. But the other side of fracking—what it might do to the food eaten by people living hundreds of miles from the nearest gas well—has received little attention. Fracking well. Photo credit: Riverkeeper Unlike many in agriculture, cattle farmer Ken Jaffe has had a good decade. But lately he's been nervous, worried fracking will destroy his business. Jaffe's been good to his soil, and the land has been good to him. By rotating his herd of cattle to different pastures on his Catskills farm every day, he has restored the once-eroded la...

The debate about sunscreens rages on. Dermatologists advise slathering up every day. Nutritionists and holistic doctors advise sun exposure to get vitamin D. Some even say sunscreens cause cancer, and a disturbing study showed that people who used more commercial sunscreen had more melanoma. Where is the truth? We might never know. Sunscreen manufacturers need to sell their product and natural sunscreen companies have little money for research. The FDA is mute and has never said that sunscreens prevent  skin cancer . It is clear that commercial sunscreen  ingredients (like oxybenzone and methoxycinnamate) are potent hormone disruptors and potential carcinogens. My advice is to never use these commercial sunscreens. What should you do? Be judicious and safe. Get  sun exposure . It is the best and most reliable source of vitamin D. But avoid sunburn, which damages the  skin   and may increase your risk of skin  cancer . Avoid baking in the  sun ...

The produce lobby is livid that consumers might be concerned about pesticides. They are taking their fury out on the USDA for its annual report on pesticide use ( via  The Washington Post ): In a recent letter to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, 18 produce trade associations complained that the data have "been subject to misinterpretation by activists, which publicize their distorted findings through national media outlets in a way that is misleading for consumers and can be highly detrimental to the growers of these commodities." This report happens also to be the basis for the Environmental Working Group's popular "Dirty Dozen" and "Clean Fifteen"  lists  of fruit and vegetables with the most and least pesticide residues. The produce lobbyists are pretty steamed about those, too: "There are some organizations with agendas that do want to scare people away from fresh produce," said Kathy Means, a vice president at the Produce Marketing A...

In 2010, more than 365 million acres were planted worldwide with genetically engineered (GMO) seeds. The U.S. leads the world with more than 165 million acres of GMO crops, mostly Roundup Ready® crops. Monsanto owns patents on the genes of more than 93% of soybeans, 80% of corn, and 95% of sugar beets planted in the U.S. -- all genetically modified to be resistant to the weed killer Roundup. On January 17, internationally recognized plant pathologist Dr. Don Huber, wrote a letter to USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack warning of the discovery of a new pathogen and a possible link between Roundup Ready® (GMO) corn and soybeans and severe reproductive problems in livestock as well as widespread crop failure. Less than 3 weeks later, the Obama administration approved 2 new Roundup Ready® GMO crops, set to be planted this spring... Read on about Dr. Huber's discovery. If it gives you pause,  sign our petition  to ask Sec. Vilsack to stop these seeds from being planted until further resear...